Highlights
- Immigration minister Alex Hawke announced new occupations for the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL)
- Occupations like accountant (general), internal auditor, electrical engineer, ICT security specialist and chef included
- New list is Australia’s pathway to recovery: Migration agent Seema Chauhan
An onshore migrant is “over the moon” after her visa was approved on the same day when immigration minister Alex Hawke announced the addition of new skilled occupations to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL).
The Indian national, who wished to remain anonymous, said her employer had lodged her application under the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa a month ago.
“I am very happy and grateful to my employer and my migration agent who had been guiding me since I started the process in 2017,” she told SBS Hindi.
She had applied for her Australian permanent residency from India in 2017 but then came to Australia on a student visa a year later. She finished her studies in 2020 and began working for a multinational company in Sydney.
She had applied in the external auditor category, which is amongst 22 new skilled occupations added to the on 22 June.
An Indian national got her visa approved on the same day Immigration Minister Alex Hawke announced new skilled occupations on the PMSOL. Source: Supplied by Seema Chauhan
Some new occupations added to the PMSOL include accountant (general), accountant (taxation), accountant (management), internal auditor, electrical engineer, civil engineer, software and applications programmer, ICT security specialist and chef.
Seema Chauhan, a registered migration agent based in Gold Coast, said the new list is “Australia’s pathway to recovery’.
Migration agent Seema Chauhan. Source: Supplied by Seema Chauhan
“It has been made keeping in mind the current skills demand in Australia. It will help employers in getting skilled workers from overseas,” Ms Chauhan told SBS Hindi.
Many industry bodies, including the Australia India Business Council, have written to the Australian government about the shortage of skills in the country and have requested them to expedite visa applications in critical sectors such as tourism and hospitality.
Immigration minister Alex Hawke said the government engaged with small, medium and large Australian employers, business leaders and industry bodies across the economy to determine these changes.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke. Source: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
“[The] Government has received valuable feedback from Australian business stakeholders on critical skill vacancies, which has been considered together with data from the National Skills Commission, in order to develop today’s update to the Priority Migration Skilled Migration List,” he had said on 22 June.
“The Morrison Government will continue to support Australian businesses, including through skilled migration, as the engine room of our nation’s economy,” he added.
Canberra-based international student Sukhmanpreet Singh said it is good news that the government has added new professions to the PMSOL.
Canberra-based international student Sukhman Singh. Source: Supplied by Sukhman Singh.
“I have spent $96,000 on my bachelor’s degree in accounting, but couldn’t apply for permanent residency as the cut-off had reached 110 points,” Mr Singh told SBS Hindi.
“I then spent another $12,000 on a cooking course to become a chef. So, by qualification, I am an accountant but currently working as a chef,” he said.
Mr Singh said he will apply for permanent residency once the government notifies all the rules and guidelines.
